49ers Sign CB Eric Wright

The 49ers have signed cornerback Eric Wright to a one-year deal and placed him on the Non-Football Injury/Illness List.

The 49ers have signed cornerback Eric Wright to a one-year deal and placed him on the Non-Football Injury/Illness List.

In order to make room for the 5-foot-10, 200-pound cornerback, the team waived undrafted rookie cornerback Lowell Rose.

Wright’s addition to the 49ers will count against the team’s 90-man roster limit. He can be activated at any time prior to the final cuts of training camp.

“We are pleased to welcome Eric to the 49ers organization and look forward to his contributions,” general manager Trent Baalke said in a statement released by the team. “Eric is currently tending to a personal matter and he will join the team as soon as possible.”

The Wright signing was welcomed by Baalke who previously said the door wasn’t closed on adding the experienced cornerback after he failed a physical which voided a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prior to training camp.

“We’re going to continue to do our due diligence like we do on all players,” Baalke said on July 23. “With respect to Eric, there’s always a possibility that he becomes a Niner at some point, it’s just not now.”

That point has now come hours before the team’s first preseason game of 2013 and a week after No. 3 cornerback Chris Culliver injured his left knee in training camp.

San Francisco’s front office appears to feel comfortable with Wright’s health and will look to add him to a competitive cornerback mix.

The 49ers planned to assess Wright after he failed his physical following an initial trade, according to coach Jim Harbaugh. The 49ers coach didn’t want to reveal how much interest the team had in the 28-year-old cornerback at the time.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but there’s a process,” Harbaugh said four days ago amid reports that the team still was communicating with Wright.

With Wright, a San Francisco native, now on the roster, the 49ers add another experienced defensive back with 81 career starts under his belt. Wright has totaled 363 tackles and 14 interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns in his six-year career. He has also recorded five fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles, one sack and 70 pass breakups.

Wright started all 10 games in which he appeared for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012, recording 39 tackles, one interception, one fumble recovery and eight pass breakups.